Shinde justifies move to unbundle PSEB
Nangal, September 22
Justifying the unbundling of the electricity boards in various states, Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde said here today that the exercise had prevented power thefts and improved service to the consumer.

Rain hits cotton, paddy crops
Bathinda, September 22
Heavy rain, accompanied by strong winds, today lashed Faridkot and surrounding areas resulting in losses to paddy and cotton crops at a stage when they were on the verge of maturing.

Expedite process to select vets, says CM
Ludhiana, September 22
The Chief Minister has asked Chief Secretary K.R. Lakhanpal to expedite the process of selection of veterinary graduates as service providers in veterinary hospitals of the state.

Students of the Fine Arts Department, Government College for Girls, Patiala, perform during their freshers’ party
on Friday. A Tribune photograph

SAD condemns use of force against girls
Hoshiarpur, September 22
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will release its manifesto two months ahead of the Assembly elections. However, it will continue its mass-contact campaign by holding rallies throughout the state. This was stated by SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal while talking to mediapersons at the residence of Mr Ravinder Singh, senior vice-president of the district unit of the SAD at Rasoolpur village, about 28 km from here, today.

Kidnapper turns out to be ISI agent
Pathankot, September 22
A three-year-old child, who had been kidnapped by Pakistan national Kalid Parvez from Bari Brahmana village, near Jammu, was rescued by his parents today. Khalid had come to India just on a one-day visa to witness the Mohali cricket match between India and Pakistan about a year ago and had since been staying in the country illegally.

The wife of newly elected president of the Punjab Pradesh Youth Congress, Mr Vijay Inder Singla, offers sweets to her mother-in-law in Patiala on Thursday.
— Tribune photo by Rajesh Sachar

Shiv Batalvi auditorium awaits completion
Gurdaspur, September 22
It has been 26 years since the construction of an auditorium in the name of famous Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar
Batalvi, who belonged to the area, started at Batala.

Akal Takht moved over songs at SAD rally
Patiala, September 22
A senior leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has urged the Jathedar, Akal Takht, and the President, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), to take action against those leaders, who allowed a couple to sing vulgar songs on the premises of the gurdwara of Harpalpur village for gathering crowd for a rally of Mr Parkash Singh Badal yesterday.

I have right to put questions to CM, says Sidhu
Chandigarh, September 22
“I am not a child but a Member of Parliament elected by nearly 15 lakh voters from Amritsar, one of the most important cities in this part of the country”, said Mr Navjot Singh Sidhu, while reacting to the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh’s statement that both Mr Sidhu and Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal were just “balungras”( kittens).

Chandigarh, September 22
The Rastriya Krantikari Samajwadi Party will contest all seats in Punjab during the coming Assembly elections in the state. This was decided at a meeting of the party at Kisan Bhavan here today. It was presided over by Mr Kameshwar Nath Pandey, president of the party’s Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh units. It was also decided that the party would not enter into a pact with any other outfit for fighting the elections.

Protesting SAD workers rounded up
Ropar, September 22
As many as 12 workers of the Akali Dal (Badal) and a SGPC member, Gurinder Singh
Gogi, were today rounded up by the police while they were staging a protest to prevent the Minister for Local Government and Labour and Employment, Mr Jagjit Singh Chowdhary, from going around the city.

Prof appointed on US board of nutrition
Patiala, September 22
Dr M.S. Sohal, Professor (Nutrition), Department of Physiotherapy and Sports Sciences, Punjabi University, has been appointed on the Board of Nutrition of American Clinical Nutrition, Tucson Arizona, USA, according to a press note issued here yesterday.
— TNS

Rice mill owners’ meet
Patiala, September 22
A rice mill owners meet was organised by the local new grain market branch of the State Bank of Patiala
(SBoP) here today in which the policy of the bank for advancing loans to them for the year 2006-07 was discussed.

Freshers’ party organised at Lincoln College
Fatehgarh Sahib, September 22
Students of the Lincoln College of Law, Fatehgarh Sahib, today organised a freshers’ party on the college campus. It was inaugurated by senior Akali leader and member SGPC Didar Singh Bhatti.

New Lions Club formed
Fatehgarh Sahib, September 22
The International Association of Lions Clubs has formed a new Lions Club Fatehgarh Sahib. The installation ceremony of the new club was organised last night at Sirhind town.

Workshop on solid waste management
Patiala, September 22
The All Lions Club of Patiala Region IX, on the fifth day of Environment Awareness Week, organised a seminar -cum-workshop on solid waste management and water conservation here today.

Experts discuss garbage disposal
Ropar, September 22
People will be encouraged to save the environment by changing their behaviour through a campaign. It’s high time people realised that nothing is for granted and we have to protect the environment to save ourselves. These views are expressed by solid waste management experts from the netherlands at a seminar held here recently.

Patiala, September 22
The NSS unit of Government College for Girls organised a blood donation camp as part of the ongoing 10 days NSS camp. The Principal of the college, Dr
G.K.Jaggi, inaugurated the camp.

Rajpura, September 22
he State Bank of Patiala(SBP) yesterday sponsored 23 children of the SOS Children’s Village here.

SBoP launches Hindi awareness drive
Patiala, September 22
The State Bank of Patiala has been observing the Hindi as official language. It has started a-month-long awareness drive throughout the branches and offices from September 1 to 30.

Farmers’ protest on Sept 25
Amritsar, September 22
The ambitious Special Economic Zone (SEZ) here hit the first roadblock as Kissan Sangarsh Committee
(KSC) announced to stop rail traffic for two hours on September 25 in protest against government's decision for acquisition of land.

Contract workers stage protest
Ropar, September 22
More than 200 contract workers of Swaraj Mazda Limited observed protest after five of them were told to leave their jobs without any prior intimation. The protestors alleged that they were getting salary between Rs 2500 to Rs 3500 per month. Even they did not have facility of E.S.I and also facing problems while withdrawing Provident Funds.

Three-month RI for giving false evidence
Sangrur, September 22
Mr K.K. Garg, Sessions Judge, Sangrur, yesterday awarded three months' rigorous imprisonment (RI) each to Mehar Singh, resident of Jaikar village (Samana Tehsil in Patiala district), and Pritam Singh, resident of Shadipur Momian village (Samana Tehsil), for giving false evidence in the court. They were sentenced to undergo RI for three months each under Section 344 of the Cr. P. C.

2 labourers crushed to death by jeep, 3 hurt
Ferozepore, September 22
Two persons were killed on the spot and another three injured after they were run over by a speeding jeep near Asal village on Ferozepore-Zira road last night. The injured include one child whose condition is slated to be serious. According to the information, the deceased were migrant labourers who were pitching temporary shed along the roadside when the incident happened.

No transfer on gender bias: Bajwa
Gurdaspur, September 22
There would be no transfers of teachers in the state on gender basis. Mr Pratap Singh Bajwa, Minister for Education and PWD, stated this to dispel fears among the teaching community that transfers would be made as the government was in favour of lady teachers only in girl's schools.

Management development programme starts
Patiala, September 22
The School of Business Management, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET), started a two-day management development programme on ‘Lean management for competitiveness’ here today.

Third counselling for BEd courses from Sept 30
Chandigarh, September 22
The third counselling for admissions to the Bachelor of Education (B Ed.) and the B Ed (yoga) in the colleges of education, affiliated to Panjab University, Chandigarh, Punjabi University, Patiala and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, for the session 2006-07 will be held from September 30 to October 3 at the Panjab University auditorium. October 2 will be a holiday.

PU despatches roll numbers
Chandigarh, September 22
Roll numbers of candidates who are going to appear in the supplementary examinations, to be conducted by Panjab University from September 27, have been despatched.